SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. – A year ago, Deterministic and his people had to wait a day to win the Manhattan Stakes. Persistent heavy rain had turned the Saratoga grass course so sodden that the race, scheduled for June 7, was moved back to June 8. Deterministic returned after the Manhattan and won the Fourstardave on Aug. 2. Connections had to wait eight months for him to race again.  Deterministic is back, from all appearances better than ever, and on Saturday became the first horse since 1989 to win back-to-back Manhattans.  Granted, this race historically is run over 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park. Last year, moved to the drier inner course here, it was contested at 1 1/8 miles, and this renewal came at 1 3/16 miles. We may never know if Deterministic can stretch his speed to 10 furlongs, but he had plenty of gas to get 9 1/2 Saturday. “I know the last eighth of a mile, the way he had his ears pinned back, they wouldn’t ever catch him,” said jockey Kendrick Carmouche. Carmouche began riding Deterministic in May 2025. The pair is undefeated, five straight graded stakes, three Grade 1s. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. For what it’s worth – and his name will be in the record books – Deterministic smashed the course record, clocking 1:50.50 over firm, very fast-playing turf, eclipsing the 1:51.40 Say the Word ran in August 2020. It’s fair to note that eight of the nine Manhattan runners also turned in track-record setting performances. Deterministic was given a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. Second, and closing on the winner, came Test Score, who rebounded with a vengeance from a dud last month in the Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, where he barely ran a step. Getting an inside stalking trip under Manny Franco, Test Score came home strongly and was beaten a half-length. A half-length behind him in third was his Graham Motion-trained stablemate One Stripe, who sat last much of the trip, made a sharp wide move around the far turn, and finished off his race solidly before galloping out in front.  “They both ran so well. I don’t know what anyone could have done differently,” Motion said. “It’s hard to make up ground on this track.” Rhetorical beat Deterministic to the lead, setting splits of 22.99, 47.01, and 1:09.83, holding firmly to the furlong pole before running out of steam and fading mildly to finish a close fourth. Rhetorical missed a scheduled workout two weeks ago and raced in an aluminum pad to cushion a touchy foot. Integration galloped along to the three-sixteenths marker before deciding to pick up his pace and actually finished solidly for fifth. He was followed home by Make Me King, 2-1 favorite Bright Picture, Tiz Dashing, and Battle of Normandy. Bright Picture shipped from France for trainer Andre Fabre and ran below form, as was the case in his first trip aboard to race in Bahrain this winter. Jockey Flavien Prat said Bright Picture traveled well enough onto the backstretch, at which point Prat felt his mount began “chasing the pace,” going one paced the rest of the trip. Deterministic, trained by Miguel Clement for St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker, and Vicarage Stable, started his career a dirt horse, winning the 2024 Gotham, but by the end of his 3-year-old season had been shifted, with good effect, to turf. Things really took off for Deterministic last summer, but just as he reached the peak of his powers, Deterministic began battling a persistent, unspecified injury. After winning the Fourstardave, the horse didn’t so much as post a timed workout until February. Clement eased his charge back into action in the Fort Marcy on May 2, which Deterministic won by a diminishing three-quarters of a length, merely shaking off rust for his major goal – the Manhattan. Clement made clear earlier this week that he planned to go for the lead, but Deterministic broke “a tick slow,” Carmouche said, as Rhetorical got to the rail and the front under Irad Ortiz. “Once I saw Irad [Ortiz Jr., aboard Rhetorical] cross over, I just let my horse run a little, just to let the pace go a little bit quicker, and once we got on the backside I eased him up off Irad, and, man, he was sitting in my hands so perfect,” Carmouche said. “Half-mile pole, his ears started going backward, so he was telling me he wanted to get after him, you know. Then, by the time I got to the five-sixteenths pole, I squeezed him a little and he really said, all right, send me home.” Bred by Hinkle Farms, Deterministic was produced by the Speightstown mare Giulio’s Jewel, and is by Liam’s Map, who also sired the current leading 1 1/2-mile grass horse in North America, Burnham Square. Clement doesn’t believe Deterministic has real distance limitations, but does not plan to test that theory, the horse more likely to go back to a mile than out to longer trips. “I always thought he was the best turf horse in the country,” Clement said. “He can do anything.” Deterministic raced on home grounds Saturday at Saratoga. The Breeders’ Cup Mile is at Keeneland in November. That’s five months off, but Deterministic already has been more than worth the wait. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.